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Title:   Splenda - a miracle of modern advertising...

Nutrition facts

Serving Size 1 oz (28 g, close to 1 cup)
Amount per serving
Calories 94 Calories from Fat 0
Hide Daily Values % Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 0%
  Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 0mg 0%
Total Carbohydrates 25g 8%
  Sugars 23g
Protein 0g
Vitamin A 0%     Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 0%     Iron 0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Description:

Some things in life just aren't fair.

We spend our childhoods in ignorant bliss; memories filled with dreamy afternoons of sating our sweet tooth under cerulean skies.  What could be more innocent and pure than those moments of carefree wonder when we strolled lazily through the fair, comparing our cotton candy to the shape of the puffy clouds overhead?  What ever happened to those days when our eyes glowed with anticipation as we heard the telltale jingle of the ice cream truck rounding the corner on a hot summer day?  Thoughts of the sweet candies and confections that I enjoyed as a child always brought me a certain innocent joy.  Sadly, the reality of the business is anything but sweet.

When I first heard about Splenda, the no calorie, made-from-sugar-so-it-tastes-like-sugar sweetener the child in my heart jumped for joy.  Would sweets once again regain their innocent pleasure?  After all, what's the harm?  It's miracle sugar!  Sugar, pure and simple, without that pesky thing called calories...  or so the advertising claims.  In my quest for the perfect dessert, something pure, rich, creamy, and healthy, I stumbled across some interesting contradictions on nutritiondata.com.  "What's this?" I asked in incredulous affront.   "Adding my beloved splenda shouldn't change the calorie content of my random Uber-fab recipe!  It has zero calories!  It says so all over the packaging!!!" 

My inner kindergartener stormed off to google, fingers flying through the web, determined to defend the honor of McNiel Nutritionals.  What I found, wasn't the unblemished reputation that I was looking for. 

It appears that the forerunners of the "sweet things" market are better at being children than I ever was.  Back-biting, lieing and twisting truths to get their own way seem to be legitimate moral standards in the world of business tactics.  Apparently Equal, a competitive sweetener, has already sued McNiel Nutritionals (the makers of splenda) over their misleading claims, and the sugar farming industry has even started a website dedicated to unmasking the so called evil hidden truths about Splenda.  (www.thetruthaboutsplenda.com)  Keep in mind that there's a little bit of witch doctoring going on on this website.  It's sponsored and presented by the Sugar Association, so the information displayed is for a purpose.  Regardless, it's still alarming to read.

I'm a skeptic, so the first thing that tipped me off was the serving size on the nutrition information.  1 TSP?  Come on.  They can't honestly expect that we'll be using this product 1 tsp at a time when the neighboring claim on the bag is "Measures cup for cup like sugar!" and "Great for baking!"  It seemed a little fishy to me.  After a little bit of research, I found the catch.  Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth...

"The caloric and carbohydrate content for SPLENDA(R) Brand Sweetener is as follows:

SPLENDA(R) Granular
1 tsp =  0.5 gm carb = 2 calories
one half cup = 12 gm carb = 48 calories
1 cup = 24 gm carb = 96 calories

*1 tsp. = 1 serving

Packet of SPLENDA(R) 
1 packet = .9 gm of carb = 4 calories

*1 packet has the sweetness of 2 tsp of sugar

Note: Per U.S. labeling laws, anything with less than 5 calories per serving, is properly labeled as "zero" or no-calorie."

This information was found on www.lowcarbfreedom.com and was a response e-mail to Ms. Katherine Prouty's request for more information.  Her full article can be found <a href="http://www.lowcarbfreedom.com/2005/06/an_update_to_th.html">here</a>.

I don't know about you folks, but I feel a little cheated here.  While it's true that using splenda instead of sugar does amount to a large savings in calories and carbs, it's very much NOT true that it amounts to none. 

To make matters worse, the advertising claims that sucralose is all natural, since it's derived from natural sugar.  They forget to mention that the chemical process involved in creating sucralose involves infusing the molecules with a form of chlorine.  Aparently one patented method for creating sucralose doesn't even use sucrose as a base at all!  While I don't believe that sucralose will be a toxic threat rivaling the ingestion of weapons grade plutonium like the sugar industry would like you to believe, I will definitely be limiting my intake to the occasional glass of iced tea...

They told me when I was little that anything too good to be true generally is.  I suppose that's one thing that I'll keep from my childhood.  I'm still young enough to learn from my mistakes.  And I still feel safer enjoying my REAL natural sweets in moderation. 

They taste better anyway... ^_^

***********************************************************
Here's a couple really scary websites if you're up for a doomsday read:
http://www.holisticmed.com/splenda/
http://truthaboutsplenda.com/

Here's one that lists a few other websites to present both sides of the story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sucralose


last edit by sennyo, 8/24/2006 11:29:03 AM

Edit Tags Tags:

Beware of marketing hype   No added sugar   splenda   Sweetener   Sweets  





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